I Thought I Lost You
by DisneyCastleFriends18
Summary: AU ending for 7x23 "Hollander's Woods".
**A/N: Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read my stories. Your feedback, no matter how big or small, is a great help to me. I am glad to share some of my stories with you. I am currently working on my 8th story for Castle.**

 **This is my third Castle FanFiction story. It's an AU to the ending of "Hollander's Woods". I hope you all enjoy it.**

"I Thought I Lost You"

NYPD detective, Kate Beckett, sat in the car while on the phone with her husband, mystery novelist, Richard Castle. The two of them went out to a farmland to inspect a barn that their suspect had inherited from his parents. Because Beckett is the cop, and couldn't get a warrant, she had to stay away and in the car, while her husband went to do the investigating. While Castle was looking around the barn, he heard a noise, the sound of some creaking wood. "Beckett, he's here. He's in the barn."

The car that Beckett was sitting in, is about 50 to 100 yards away from the barn that Castle is in. As soon as she hears Castle tell her that Holtzman is in the barn with him, just gets out of the car and starts running in the direction of the barn, hoping to get there to have Castle's back. When Beckett gets to the barn, she tries to open the barn door, but it wouldn't budge. She yells, "Castle! It's locked! I can't get in!"

Castle runs to try and open the door to let Kate in, but he gets tackled by Holtzman, before he could even reach the door to the barn. Holtzman and Castle are fighting each other while on the ground. Somehow, in the middle of their brawl, Castle ends up on the bottom, with Holtzman holding a knife to his neck. Castle is trying to hold Holtzman off as long as he can so the knife doesn't hit an artery. Meanwhile, Kate is still on the outside trying to get in so she can save her husband, the love of her life.

Rick is getting tired from struggling with Holtzman. When he thinks it's almost too late, he gets an idea. He reaches his left hand under the door to the barn and yells, "Beckett!" That gets Kate's attention and she looks down at his left hand coming out from under the door, his wedding ring shining in the sun. She then places her gun in Castle's hand and he pulls his hand back from under the door.

The next thing Kate hears are 6 gunshots. Not being able to see inside, she doesn't know whether her husband is dead or alive. Castle has to take a moment to regroup himself, after shooting Holtzman, before he can stand up and walk outside to his wife's waiting arms. Once Castle has gathered himself, he stands up so he can open the doors to the barn. He is feeling light-headed, since the cut to his neck was deeper than he thought, and he was losing quite a bit of blood.

When Castle walks outside Kate sees the cut on his neck and she practically jumps into his arms. "Are you ok Castle?" Before Castle has a chance to answer, he slips through his wife's arms and falls do the ground. "Castle?!" No answer. She kneels down beside his limp body and searches for a pulse. He still has a pulse but it's faint, and he's still losing blood. She puts her hand over his wound to try and stop the bleeding while her free hand calls for an ambulance.

Once she's off the phone she talks to her husband who is still unconscious. "Stay with me, Babe. Babe, stay with me."

While Castle has to ride to the hospital in an ambulance, Kate decides she's going with him. So, Kate has Ryan drive the car back while Esposito drives the other car. When Castle gets to the hospital, he has to have a few stitches to patch up the cut he had gotten on his neck. When he received his stitches, he was still out, but Kate held his hand through it all. After all they are partners in crime and in life.

That night was supposed to be the night that Rick Castle received the Poe's Pen Career Achievement Award. But, because of the amount of blood Castle lost, the doctors didn't want him leaving the hospital. Castle was upset he couldn't go to receive his award. He had his speech written and everything. But, since Kate was by his side, she would make sure he was following doctor's orders. So, Castle sent Alexis to the ceremony to accept the award on his behalf.

Beckett stayed in the room with Castle while he recovered and regained some strength, she kept thinking about what would have happened if those gunshots she heard went through her husband. Kate tensed up every time she thought about what would have happened. Castle sensed something was going through Kate's mind. He saw it in her posture and the way her eyes were focused on nothing and the way her brows would furrow.

"Kate?" Castle asks softly since it's late at night. But, Kate doesn't answer him. Maybe she didn't hear him, so he asks a little bit louder. "Beckett?"

The use of her maiden name gets her attention. "Hm?"

"What's going through that wonderful head of yours? It doesn't look like it could be anything good, since you're tense and you're spinning your wedding ring around your finger."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine", Kate answer absently.

"Honey, you're not fine. Something is bother you. Come here", he says as he is patting the bed next to him. "Tell me what's going on."

God, she loves this man. She should be the one comforting him, since he had a near death experience. But, instead, he's the one trying to comfort her since she seems upset. Kate gets up from where she's sitting and sits next to her husband. Castle wraps an arm around her shoulders to bring it down to her waist so he can pull her closer. "I was so scared Castle."

"About what honey?"

"I thought I had lost you." Kate was trying to hold herself together, but when Castle kissed her temple she let the tears fall. "I know I handed you my gun, but I still didn't know if he managed to get it from you and then shoot you."

"Sh, Kate, I'm right here honey. I'm right here. I'm ok."

"Just now, I kept thinking what would have happened if you actually had been the one that was shot. What would I have done if I lost you? Would Holtzman have come after me?"

"Sh, no. IF he had shot me, he wouldn't have come after you. I was the one he wanted from the beginning, since I'm the one that was there all those years ago in the woods."

"I was scared Castle. You had collapsed like you did after you were poisoned. I can't lose you Castle." More tears were rolling down Kate's cheeks and her eyes were getting puffy from all the tears.

"Honey, you're not going to lose me." He pulls Kate as close as he can to his own body and wipes the tears off her face.

"Castle?"

"Hm?"

"I know we've only been married for half a year, but I'm thinking we should try for a baby."

Castle pulls Kate away to look at her with a shocked expression on his face. "Kate, are you sure?"

Kate nods her head. "Yeah, with what we do, we never know what's going to happen next. And I would like the opportunity to have a baby with the man I love before it's too late." She pauses to snuggle in closer to her husband. "IF something happens to you, I would like to have a baby that you and I made together."

"Are we serious about doing this? Because, the last time we started talking about having a baby Tyson and Neiman had captured you."

"Yes, babe, I'm serious. I want to have a baby with my husband."

Castle kisses the top of Kate's head. "Ok, Kate. Anything you want. I will do anything for you."

"Thanks babe. I love you."

"I love you too." Castle pauses before he asks the next question. "When do you want to start trying?"

Kate looks at Castle, kisses his chin and then says, "As soon as we get you home, I want you to put a baby in me."

"Ok, as soon as I'm released from the hospital and we get home, we'll start trying for that baby."

 _5 months later_

It is November 10th. It is Rick and Kate's 1 year wedding anniversary. Kate is about 4 months pregnant and she has the cutest little baby bump. Castle had made reservations for dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate their anniversary. Castle shows up a little late to dinner. "Sorry I'm late honey. The meeting ran longer than expected." He kissed his wife on the lips. "Happy anniversary Kate."

Kate smiles up at him, "Happy anniversary babe."

Castle sits down at the table across from his beautiful wife, who is completely glowing. They ordered their food and chatted. They had a nice romantic dinner to mark their one year of marriage. The waiter had asked if they wanted any dessert, but all Kate wanted to do was get her husband home so they could celebrate properly. Rick knew that look in Kate's eye and told the waiter they didn't need any dessert. So, the waiter just brought them their check. Castle paid and then they were headed home.

On the drive home they held hands and any chance Rick got, he would look over to the passenger's side and he would smile. After the 3rd time Kate looked back at him, "What is it babe?"

"Nothing. It's just sometimes I can't believe we've made it one whole year and we have a baby on the way."

With her free hand she rubs it over her tiny bump. "Yeah, we made it. I also can't believe how fast I got pregnant. I honestly didn't think I'd be pregnant for our anniversary."

"Yeah, neither did I. I'm a little bummed though, because I had planned our anniversary before you got pregnant. And I had planned for us to have wine or champagne, but that's clearly out of the question. So, instead I have a substitute chilling at home waiting for us. Alexis is the one that put it on ice."

"What is the substitute?"

"Sparkling Cider. Original, since it's the closest thing I can get to champagne."

"You're sweet babe. Thank you for considering me and the baby in planning our anniversary."

"For you? Always."

When they arrived back at the loft, Castle unlocked the door and picked up his wife, bridal style to carry her over the threshold. "Um, babe, are you sure you can do this? I mean I've put on some weight since I got pregnant."

"Piece of cake. You have a tiny bump, I'll be ok." Castle managed to get them through the front door and with Castle still holding Kate, she closed the front door. Castle carried her over to the couch and laid her down. When he stood up, he was slightly out of breath.

"Babe, are you sure you're ok? You seem a bit winded."

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. I'm just out of shape. I haven't been able to work out properly in a while."

Knowing how much she loves to tease her husband, "So, does that mean you won't have any energy for tonight? Because, I have quite a work out planned for you."

"Oh, I will never be too tired for my wife." Castle gives Kate a wink as he brings back champagne flutes with sparkling cider in them.

He sits down next to his wife and they clink their glasses together before taking a sip. Once they have each taken a sip Kate leans in to give her husband a kiss. When they pull back she says with a smile, "Happy anniversary babe."

"Happy anniversary Mrs. Castle."

Rick grabs the glass from Kate and sets it down on the coffee table. Kate leans into Castle's side not saying a word to each other. They're just happy to be with each other. With one arm around Kate's waist bringing her as close as possible, he takes his other hand and places it on her baby bump. She looks up at him, smiles, gives him a kiss on the cheek and rests her head on his shoulder. Before she falls asleep on his shoulder she places one of her hands over his, so both of their hands rest above their growing baby.


End file.
